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The influence of natural reinforcement fibers, gypsum and cement on compressive strength of earth bricks materials

Construction and Building Materials • 2016
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Publication Information
Authors Philip Zak, Taha Ashour, Azra Korjenic, Sinan Korjenic, Wei Wu
Keywords Compressive strength Earth building material Reinforcement fibers Soil stabilization Gypsum Cement
Journal Construction and Building Materials
Publisher Not Available
Volume 106
Issue Not Available
Pages 179–188
publication.type International
Paper Link Open Link
Supplementary Materials Not Available
Abstract
This paper presents an experimental work on the compressive strength of earth bricks in particular the influence of additives. In total 21 different test series are carried out with different composition of earth, cement, gypsum, hemp and flax fibers. The earth material is characterized by geotechnical laboratory tests. The test results indicated that the compressive strength is highly dependent on the density of the bricks. The fibers hemp and flax have rather low impact on the compressive strength of earth bricks, but they have strong influence on the breaking behavior. Cement and gypsum as additive, as they seem to reduce the binding force of the clay minerals, lead to a highly decreased strength.